Results From The SPIVA India Year-End 2021 Scorecard
Summary
- The S&P Indices Versus Active (SPIVA) Scorecard, published semiannually, measures the performance of actively managed funds against their corresponding benchmarks.
- Indian bond funds had a tough time throughout the past decade, with most active bond managers underperforming their respective benchmarks over 1-, 3-, 5- and 10-year time horizons.
- The survivorship rates of Indian funds deteriorated over time across all categories, but the rate at which funds went extinct varied greatly across categories.
Seiya Tabuchi/iStock via Getty Images
By Benedek Vörös
The S&P Indices Versus Active (SPIVA®) Scorecard, published semiannually, measures the performance of actively managed funds against their corresponding benchmarks. The latest SPIVA India report provides a number of interesting insights about the performance of active versus passive across active fund categories.
1. Long-Term Outperformance Of Active Funds Was Difficult
Indian bond funds had a tough time throughout the past decade, with most active bond managers underperforming their respective benchmarks over 1-, 3-, 5- and 10-year time horizons. Equity funds fared slightly better, with almost three-quarters of Indian ELSS active managers outperforming their benchmark in the past year and just over half of Indian Equity Mid-/Small-Cap managers outperforming over a three-year time horizon. Over a holding period of 5 or 10 years, however, most actively managed equity and bond funds underperformed, while a full 100% of Indian Composite Bond funds underperformed the S&P BSE India Government Bond Index over the past 10 years.
2. Government Bond Funds Have Struggled To Survive, While ELSS Funds Have Proven Long(er)-Lasting
The survivorship rates of Indian funds deteriorated over time across all categories, but the rate at which funds went extinct varied greatly across categories. While Indian ELSS funds have proven resilient, with over four-fifths surviving after 10 years, Indian Government Bond funds had the lowest survival rate, with 60% closing up after a decade.
3. There Was a Wide Dispersion in Active Fund Performance, Especially in the Mid-/Small-Cap Category
As we previously highlighted, Indian Mid-/Small-Cap managers fared better in the long run than active fund managers in other categories. While one may argue that long-term "alpha" exists in the mid-/small-cap space, identifying outperforming managers in advance can be difficult. The difference between a "good" and a "bad" choice is material. Highlighting the significant fund selection risk that investors face in this category, the interquartile range (which is the spread between the first and third quartile breakpoints of active funds in a given category) was a substantial 19% for Indian Mid-/Small-Cap funds in 2021, and over 4% annualized over the past decade.
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